Bosnian Urban Traditional Song in Transformation: from Ludvik Kuba to Electronic Medias

BOSNIAN URBAN TRADITIONAL SONG IN TRANSFORMATION: FROM LUDVIK KUBA TO ELECTRONIC MEDIAS TAMARA KARAČA BELJAK This article focuses on the transformation process and changes Prispevek obravnava proces transformacije in spremembe in the manners of interpretation undergone by Bosnian interpretativnih načinov tradicionalne pesmi v urbanem traditional urban song from its emergence, through the bosanskem okolju od nastanka preko prvih notnih zapisov first melographic transcriptions in late 19th century – that konec 19. stoletja, torej časa Ludvika Kube, pa vse do razvoja is, from Ludvik Kuba’s times – through the development of elektronskih medijev. electronic media. Ključne besede: tradicionalna pesem v urbanem bosanskem Keywords: Bosnian urban song, transformation, electronic okolju, transformacije, elektronski mediji. media. INSTEAD OF AN INTRODUCTION It was almost a convention within ethnomusicological research to study Bosnian traditional music from the aspect of its primary, rural context. A stationary nature, authenticity, and homogeneity were until recently the only ethnomusicological values. Therefore research on musical forms in an urban environment, with everything this implies – changes, accul- turation, and heterogeneity – could not fit into the existing framework. Th e focus of this study is Bosnian traditional urban music and local electronic media (radio and television), which, as a distinctive means of communication, in a technically advanced manner satisfy the same need that was satisfi ed by local narrators, poet-singers, and semi-professional and professional traveling singers and entertainers in the “old traditional practice.” Th is presentation is a small part of a much broader research project aimed at investigating standardized production and mass consumption, in which the creator-inheritor-performer (now only part of a creative team) and consumer are depersonalized, and where traditional culture and cultural heritage are dehumanized. HOW DID IT START? It is well known that the Bosnian people, both those in cities and those in villages, are easily and deeply moved by song. They sing everywhere and on every occasion. Song was greatly admired in Sarajevo and other towns in Bosnia-Herzegovina: 165 TRADITIONES, 34/1, 2005, 165176 ttrad_34_1_finaleOK.inddrad_34_1_finaleOK.indd 116565 229.9.20059.9.2005 113:58:573:58:57 RAZPRAVE IN RAZGLEDI / ARTICLES There were good singers, people loved to sing and talk about songs … A well sung, genuinely experienced song left a deep impression, and the decisive factor of its action were not the voice force and beauty, but rather the knowledge of style, correct interpretation of cursorily indicated contents, which in turn required singers only to hint at contained emotions through reserved nuances of interpretation. [Rihtman 1974: 8–9] Urban singing is diffi cult to classify in formal frameworks, because it is not a “defi ned” type of song such as lullabies, songs accompanying bridal preparations, and so on. In order to understand urban singing, it is necessary to describe rural music practice in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Forms of rural music in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the population was traditionally primarily engaged in farming (except in the northern parts of the area), are considered more archaic than urban singing. However, even the “oldest” forms eventually underwent a transformation process, particularly if one bears in mind that this is an orally transmitted tradition. In essence, this means that one cannot superfi cially and lightly say that these forms as such date from “time immemorial.” Th e rural music practice found in Bosnia-Herzegovina is associated with various rites and occasions in people’s lives. Of course, ritual songs within closely-knit communities are performed by their older and more experienced members, whereas forms with an enterta- inment character are performed by younger members. Although each smaller region of the country has its distinctive manner of singing, by which the rural population of diff erent regions can be recognized, this musical tradition has some common features. Ethnomusicological research on traditional music in Bosnia-Herzegovina has shown that diff erences between rural and urban practice are manifested in many elements: the manner of singing, the forms of songs, the development of the melody, tonal relations, and the contents and manner of their presentation; they are so varied “that it is easier to observe their distinctive features than their common ones” [Rihtman 1980: 225]. Urban tradition was shaped under powerful oriental infl uence. Th e urban population was “open” towards the East: Middle Eastern music was primarily transmitted through religious classes, the learning of religious songs in primary religious schools in dervish houses of worship, the muezzin’s summons to prayer five times a day, on the Kaaba (Islamic pilgrimage), in the army through military music, and particularly in the marketplace... [Rihtman 1982: 10–11] In urban singing, female songs can be distinguished from male ones. Th e woman lived “between the four walls,” oriented toward the family and a very narrow circle of her closest relatives and girlfriends, and when she sang she sang mostly “for herself.” Her song was “mu- ffl ed”, refi ned, and subtle; she used it to articulate what moral norms did not allow her to say openly. Male song, on the other hand, was more open, more abandoned and lascivious, and 166 ttrad_34_1_finaleOK.inddrad_34_1_finaleOK.indd 116666 229.9.20059.9.2005 113:58:573:58:57 BOSNIAN URBAN TRADITIONAL SONG IN TRANSFORMATION: FROM LUDVIK KUBA TO ELECTRONIC … was sung at get-togethers, “over the glass,” and was therefore named the sarhoška ‘drinking song’. Still, they have something in common, and we recognized both as the sevdalinka ‘love song’; they both sing of love, though in diff erent ways. Both are essentially intimate, aimed at being performed in a closed environment, with slower dynamics (particularly compared to rural singing). Th ey are traditionally performed by a single female or male singer, without accompaniment or with instrumental accompaniment on the saz (a long-necked fretted lute) and, more recently, the accordion, with ample opportunity to manifest individual expressiveness and artistic skills. Th ese songs’ features include their broad breadth and range, melismatics, alterations and, in a certain number of examples, an augmented second. Tonal sequences in sevdalinkas include fi ve to nine tones from hypotonic and up. One can also observe foothold tones in this kind of singing, the function of which is very clear. Because the song develops over an extended time, in order to avoid monotony the foothold tone changes its position. For this reason it is possible for foothold tones to become distant from the song’s fi nal tone and to appear as fi nal tones of individual sections. More complex songs therefore have a number of foothold tones. Sevdalinka verses are isometric. In fact, their metrical structures are identical with the structures of other forms of traditional singing in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Th ese are two- and three-syllable meters, with the stress on the fi rst syllable. Th e verse meter coincides with the rhythm of the song. Sevdalinkas appear in six meter varieties, and they also inherit some very rare verse forms. Th e emergence of traditional Bosnian song was also aff ected by some elements of Oriental musical modal systems. It is diffi cult to determine exactly which elements these are, because the sound of the sevdalinka is unknown in the Orient. Why, then, Oriental infl uence? In any case, it is a product that has not grown exclusively out of the sediment of Bosnian traditional sound. If we do not always recognize the “Orient” as the sonority carrier in the sevdalinka, if we recognize forms unknown in the “Orient”, the following question arises: How was the “Orient” was still decisive for its emergence? Th ere are many answers, and an ethnomusicologist must search for those that defi ne reasons for the emergence and survival of this distinctive music and poetry form in both ethnomusicological and anthro- pological, ethnological terms. Infl uences during Ottoman rule over Bosnia undeniably imposed characteristic norms of life and behavior. A diff erent sound harmony was undeniably heard and experienced in Bosnia at the time. However, it also cannot be denied that the previously deposited “Bosnian harmony” never completely disappeared. It is out of this complex time, which was spontaneously experienced in music, that this indigenous music and poetry form emerged. Th ey are simply an “experience.” Singers relate them according to their momentary inner feeling. Th ey are an expression of a singer’s sensitivity, and this is why they do not have a “lasting” and “certain” form. “Th e sevdalinka can exist both as a melody and as an auditory phenomenon, but it becomes what it is only when sung by a true singer” [Milošević 1964: 38]. Performers that sing the sevdalinka “correctly”, but without inner vibes, are well known. In this case, it is sung in a refi ned, noble, and enchanted manner, but without aff ectation. 167 ttrad_34_1_finaleOK.inddrad_34_1_finaleOK.indd 116767 229.9.20059.9.2005 113:58:573:58:57 RAZPRAVE IN RAZGLEDI / ARTICLES Some sing it in a half-voice, with much warmth, in a soft nasal voice. Others, in contrast, sing it at the top of their voices, and attract the listener with the force of their voices. Simply stated, nothing is written, there is no music, only interpretation. THE END OF THE “GOLDEN AGE” OF BOSNIAN TRADITIONAL URBAN SONG Bosnian traditional urban song was historically nourished in the atmosphere of the intimate circle. When this was disturbed and the song went “public” – that is, to pubs – the road was prepared for the modification of the song and, later on, its decadence. This was confirmed by the German scholar Gerhard Gesemann in 1930s. The pub song did not emerge abruptly. Its development started when the “male” song, performed at distinctly male get-togethers at dusk, received a somewhat unbridled expression.

Load more